Have you ever tried something new that made you feel like a complete beginner, even though you were pretty confident in your abilities?
I remember my first Zumba class about 20 years ago. As a young adult, I had always enjoyed dancing at clubs, and I'd consider myself a fairly athletic person. I could usually pick up a new sport or physical activity within a few minutes. By that point, I'd already taught cycling, step, strength training, water aerobics, and several other formats. Coordination wasn't something I'd ever given much thought to.
Then I took that Zumba class.
Let's just say I felt like I had two left feet!
The choreography was so much harder that I expected. I couldn't seem to get my feet, arms, and brain working together, and something that looked like so much fun suddenly felt incredible frustrating. I remember my boss suggesting that someone needed to get certified because Zumba was going to be a huge fitness trend in the near future. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot.
That meant practicing for hours every single day until the movements started to feel natural. Slowly, the pieces came together. What had initially felt impossible became familiar, and eventually I was able to enjoy the experience instead of concentrating so hard on every step.
I'm incredibly thankful that my now-best buddy gave me that opportunity. Not only did I have the time of my life, but looking back, I believe that challenge helped prepare me for some of the biggest changes God had planned for my life in the years that followed.
I needed to be strong physically, but I also needed to be a beast emotionally. I was going to face a tremendous amount of change and newness, along with challenges I couldn't have anticipated. Learning something that was both physically and mentally difficult had pushed me outside my comfort zone. I'd had to be patient, keep showing up when I wasn't good at something, and trust that I could improve with practice.
I can't say that one Zumba class magically prepared me for everything that followed (the glory goes to God), but the experience taught me something valuable: being uncomfortable doesn't mean you're incapable, and struggling at the beginning doesn't mean you won't get there.
That's one of the benefits of trying something new. We don't just challenge our bodies; we give ourselves opportunities to practice patience, problem-solving, persistence, and adaptability. When we work through a manageable challenge, we can build confidence in our ability to handle the next one. Those skills can serve us well far beyond exercise.
Of course, there's a difference between a challenge that helps us grow and one that pushes us beyond what is safe or appropriate. We don't need to throw ourselves into the deep end every time we want to improve. Sometimes growth starts with a small step: trying a new activity, learning a different movement, or simply sticking with something long enough to get past that awkward beginner stage.
And if you're used to being good at things, that beginner stage can be especially humbling. It's tempting to give up when something doesn't come naturally. But what if you allowed yourself to be a beginner without expecting yourself to be an expert right away?
You might discover a new activity you love. You might develop a skill you never knew you had. Or you might learn something about yourself that becomes useful in a completely different area of your life.
As we continue our month of falling into growth, think about something you've been wanting to try but have hesitated to attempt. What might you gain by giving yourself permission to learn, make mistakes, and improve along the way?
You don't have to be good at something to get started. You just have to be willing to start.
Sometimes the things that challenge us the most end up giving us far more than we expected.